Student Highlight
Amelia Medved ~ Feb ‘23
Hi! My name is Amelia Medved and I’m a sophomore at Fordham College Rose Hill. I’m an Environmental Studies major with a Visual Arts minor, and the CCEL course I’m taking this semester is proving to be a very exciting intersection of the two! Art and Action on the Bronx River, taught by Professor Matthew López-Jensen, combines history, ecology, and art to give students a holistic understanding of environmentalism and a deeper connection to the river. Throughout the semester, we will produce photography projects, but also drawings, writing and more, depicting the Bronx River. Our work will then be given to the Bronx River Alliance, our community partner, for their archives. We’re also hoping to hold an exhibition at the end of the semester at the River House, the Bronx River Alliance’s beautiful office and community space in Starlight Park.
So far, I’ve gone to the Botanical Gardens twice to photograph the river in the snow. I’m hoping to visit River Park this week, both to see the fish ladder that crosses the 182nd Street Dam and to spend some time outdoors, away from my computer (which I definitely need these days)! I’m also looking forward to class field trips once both COVID and the weather improve. For now, my classmates and I will be going to the river independently and sharing our work over Zoom. The course has been fun and engaging, and I’m eager to continue encountering the Bronx River, hopefully alongside a few of my classmates soon!
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(Update March 9, 2021)
I’m glad to share that since I last wrote, my class has had the chance to meet in-person for the first time! After Fordham lifted “pause” restrictions at the Rose Hill campus, Matt—our professor for Art and Action on the Bronx River—announced that we would spend our Friday class meeting on the Bronx River. For many of my classmates, it was the first face-to-face class they had attended since March 2020; and what a way to return to in-person! The weather was sunny and clear, though just a bit chilly. After we gathered at Keating and briefly reviewed the work we had created so far, we left campus and walked north to Bronx River Forest. Along the river, we had the opportunity to work on our ongoing projects, including our typologies, which will highlight some aspect of the river or its surrounding environment by repeating a similar subject over a group of a dozen or so photographs.
On Friday, we were also able to read aloud assignments we wrote about our relationship with land. We were meant to reflect on a few book excerpts about family histories, migration, land ownership and ecological destruction; then, we wrote our own personal narratives of how land and place have shaped our lives. Working on the assignment proved a great opportunity for me to think deeply about the locations and experiences in my life which underpin my commitment to sustainability. It was also great to be able to hear parts of what my classmates wrote, and along the river, I considered the emotional connections we were all forming with the Bronx River as we walked.
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(Update March 24, 2021)
Last time I wrote, my CCEL class—Art and Action on the Bronx River—had travelled to the stretch of the river which is immediately north of campus. On our next excursion, we went south instead, starting at the Bronx Zoo’s Fordham Road gate. At this entrance, a wide bridge crosses the Bronx River, and there we were able to photograph the river below and also watch a group of ducks swim around. We had a really interesting discussion at the bison exhibit, where the animals have been part of the Bronx River ecosystem for over a century. A few of them were brought to New York when the species was nearly extinct, and they were protected from the genocidal hunting campaign which was intended to destroy them as the livelihood of the Indigenous people of the Great Plains. The Zoo—and by proxy the Bronx River—provided a home for the animals, and eventually the Plains were repopulated (in part) by Bronx Zoo bison. However, grave, irrevocable harm was done to the people there, and the continued exclusion of Native American people from this conservation story exposes an unfortunately common shortcoming of conventional Western environmentalism.
After a few more stops along the river within the Zoo, we exited onto Boston Road and Bronx Park South, and took a short walk to River Park. There, we photographed the 182nd Street Dam, as well as other sights in the busy park. Later, sitting at picnic tables in the sun, we had the chance to read samples of one another’s writing, and also discussed all of the exciting future directions of the course. I’m looking forward to sharing the projects we’ll be working on next!
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(Updated April 6, 2021)
For our most recent class, my classmates from Art and Action on the Bronx River and I went our separate ways to independently gather information and inspiration for our mapping projects. We were given full discretion to select the location, focus and style of our maps, and I decided that Concrete Plant Park would be a good place to start. I knew I was interested in mapping bridges, and from the park’s shore, I would be able to see the massive bridge where Westchester Avenue and the 6 train cross the river.
Though we all expected rain, it turned out to be a clear and warm day, and perfect for walking the Bronx River to take photographs and sketch. I caught the Bx19 just outside the Botans and took it to the Freeman St stop. I knew from my Google Maps preparation that the short walk to the park would not be very simple, but even then I found myself surprised by how difficult it was to access the park on foot. Once I left the residential part of the neighborhood, I had to navigate sizable intersections to cross both Whitlock Avenue and an exit ramp from Sheridan Blvd. The volume was also considerable, as cars came and went from every direction, and frequently got in one another’s way. The elevated subway above also added to the noise. Though it was beautiful in the park, and I relaxed on the river once I got there, it was no simple feat to arrive, and it would be a nearly impossible one for unsupervised children, or Bronxites with limited mobility. We have spoken as a class about how difficult it is to access the river in many areas, and on my trip to Concrete Plant Park, I observed (and mapped) some specific obstacles firsthand.
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(Updated April 28, 2021)
Since my last update about the Art and Action on the Bronx River course, we took an exciting excursion and began working on our final project of the semester. Earlier this month, during one of our Friday afternoon class meetings, we made a pilgrimage to the headwaters of the Bronx River, up at the Kensico Dam. On the Metro North train up, I was able to catch a few glimpses of the river out the window and observe how human infrastructure, including railroads, often traces paths which exist naturally in the landscape. When we stepped off the train in Valhalla, the change was clear between the small Westchester town and the busy Bronx where we boarded. We walked over to the Kensico Dam, which was (for a short time) the largest dam in the world, and is unimaginably big in person. To know that it was built entirely by human labor was even more humbling. As a class, we took the long, steep steps to the top, where we were able to see out along the surface of the water on one side and down off the side of the stone on the other. To head up the Bronx River and see where it officially begins—and to know how significant that starting place is—enriched my sense of the river. The dam was also a striking place to consider human impact on the environment.
We also began a new project since my last update. While we have been collaborating and travelling the river together throughout the semester, our final Elaborate Extractions piece is the only to be done entirely with classmates. My group spent our most recent class meeting in the Keating art studio working on our inventive tool intended to pull an object from the Bronx River. We will be trying it out on the water in the next few days, and I hope to have successful news about our attempt for my next update!
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